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Show HN: SimpleSearch – Just a list of search bars

simplesearch.info

31 pointswwickey30 comments

I made this site for myself, SimpleSearch.info, as new default browser page. I’m not sure if it actually _saves_ time or clicks (though, for me, it saves at least one click per search), but I find the search experience more pleasant. On desktop, it’s nice to just have these search bars as the first thing that pops up in a new window or tab vs clicking bookmarks in the toolbar or elsewhere then searching. Similarly, on mobile, I like just clicking on one icon for all my searches. The vast majority of my web browsing begins with a search or LLM query.

I’m curious if this is helpful to anyone else and if there are any additional features I might add to make it more useful. Thanks!

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I had a similar idea a while back and built Gnod Search around it:

https://www.gnod.com/search

You can enter a search term and then click on the button of a search engine.

Or you can just press the first char in the name of the engine. So you can search Google for "hello world" by typing "hello world<enter>g". And then go back and just hit "c" to send the same query to ChatGPT.

I came up with the concept of the "double-keypress" (a la mouse double-click) to solve the problem of selecting the search engine without any clicking: https://zz.leftium.com/

- First of all, search bangs actually already removed the need to click the "search" button.

- However, I wanted to support multiline input (on a mobile virtual keyboard.)

- ENTER,ENTER solves this. (Double-keypress ENTER)

- I also wanted the search box to filter the list of 10,000+ available search bangs.

- So Q,Q selects the first entry; W,W the next; and so on... (The first Q must be uppercase, but the following Q may be lowercase to support how mobile virtual keyboards work)

- (Notice Q is right under the key for 1; W under 2; and so on )

I have to tune the double-keypress UX (often I initiate a search when I just want a newline.) Perhaps I will also add triple-keypress.

That's a cool idea.

So a simple return makes a newline, and two quick returns have a different meaning. I like that.

The way I support multiline is via the little triangle in the search bar. I think I'll keep it, because it is easier to discover. The double-return would need some kind of textual hint. Like when you press enter once, a little hint could pop up below the search area telling you that to leave the text entry, you can hit enter twice.

And on mobile I rarely use multiline searches I think. On the Desktop I use shift-return to create a newline.

How do I select duckduckgo after pressing enter, because DeepL appears before DuckDuckGo?

Have you seen that you can customize the list of engines when you click "more engines"?

For now, if you have two engines in your list that start with the same letter and want to use the second one, you have to click on it.

I was thinking about changing it so that when you press the letter, then both engines lit up so you know you have to press another letter to select which one you want. So DeepL would be "de" and DuckDuckGo would become "du".

Not sure if it is a feature in high demand. If I get feedback from a user that they want it, I would implement it.

Ah, cool, yes, same idea! I like it.

Any of the expanded search options get much action?

Not sure. I have not much insight into how people use it. Just like you, I mostly have built it (and keep building it) for myself. And yes, I also think it saves time.

Cool, thanks.

Some of the options, for example, ReelGood, I personally use all the time, but I’m not sure how common that is for others.

I’m sure there are searches (maybe things like arxiv, Google Translate, Google Scholar, Spotify, etc.) that other people use more often. I initially opted to keep things tidy (and "'simple'") vs comprehensive, but I will add those and others if anyone wants them!

I don't really see the point of this - but here is some feedback from trying it out:

* Whatsapp search is broken. Goes to "https://web.whatsapp.comSEARCHPHRASE/"

* Most of these only work when logged in via cookie to the service

* Amazon search inserts your affiliate tag - you might want to make this clear somewhere.

Yes! Thanks. Will update.

Yeah, for me, it's just a _little_ bit better of a search experience. Would not expect that the be the case for everyone. Was wondering if that would actually be the case for _most_ people. Glad to see some folks some see value in it.

- I made something similar: https://multi-launch.leftium.com/

- After realizing I made the "button version" of search bangs I started: https://zz.leftium.com/

The UX for composing multiline queries is nicer in my apps (especially with AI Chat like CoPilot):

- ENTER is newline by default (SHIFT+ENTER to submit. Or double ENTER; careful not to add newlines too quickly; I have to tune the double keypress UX)

- Auto-expands to multiple lines

- Fullscreen edit mode

Nice. Thanks for showing.

The different flavors of simultaneous invention shared in the thread makes me think there's some kind of underlying shared need/value in this sort of thing!

Nice add https://chat.deepseek.com and move https://claude.ai to main list

Came to say the same.

I did this in Emacs, created a function that will search a keyword on various sites. :) M-x omnisearch keyword<RET> And it logs all of my searches in an org file. Pretty useful logfile after a while.

So yes, I can see the value of such a tool :)

I wonder if it'd be better to allow a local copy of the page to be saved and used without error - would also lower your bandwith usage.

- top text entry field could also be selected by default upon load: ready for typing entry

I'm not sure what multisearch option does? I would think that it would do the same search on all the places checked but it doesn't seem to do that?

Yes, the multisearch option should open all of the checked options in new tabs. Some browsers or incognito modes will block this by default, so a user may have to enable on their end if that's functionality they care about. Firefox, for example, should notify you that it blocked popups and ask you if you want it to keep doing that same thing moving forward. This feature is also not as relevant on mobile. I can troubleshoot further if that's not working as intended. I considered just removing multisearch, but I do personally use it when I want to check regular search and an LLM in one go, which is actually pretty often. (Plus I achieve tab overflow at least 3x faster! xD)

how come I'm only seeing a Godaddy default page?

same here

Ty for the heads up. I think I identified the issue (not, sure why it was affecting some users and not others). Updated! Might take a little time to propagate.

Interesting ! Would you mind sharing the sources ?

I use bangs in Kagi (duck duck go had the same feature; I think they were actually the first to do it)

IMO: get rid of the animations

Agreed, was going to mention the same thing.

It needs to have a dark mode in the CSS.

There's a dark mode toggle persistent in the upper right. :-)

I like this - simple, good, and practical

# Feedback

- Maybe add a way for a user to modify/adjust layout of search bars. For example view them in a row or grid versus single column

- Delete a search bar from the list versus replacing it with another search bar. For example, I may just want to see github and google only. But can always add more from the 'more' dropdown menu. Basically adding an 'X' to the left of the search bar